A man sat by the waters edge listening to the soft crash of tiny waves breaking onto the shore. It was a quiet and uneventful day so far. The wind was calm leaving just a breeze left to keep you cool from the warm sun high above you. The early afternoon moved by with fishes jumping at small bugs on the surface of the lake for food, snakes bathing in the rays of warmth on rocks littering a beachy side the man sat at, and wild animals every once and a while peeking out of the tree line and taking a drink from the cool, cold waters of the lake.

This man was Tsuketh and he sat by the lake upon a large boulder on a short stretch of shoreline. He wore basically normal clothing of one completely living off of the land: a shirt obviously made of some kind of deer or elk, long brown leather pants made from the same sort of material, leather boots with twine looking lacing, and a mediumly sized backpack made of some kind of black fur. His bow and quiver of arrows leaned against the rock in no worry of coming under attack. The way to get to this small beach was quite hard a grueling but very worthwhile for a quiet afternoon by the lake in solitude. Unless of course some one jumped in the lake and swam the the site, but he wasn't too worried about that. Mostly because he has never seen anyone do it.

If he had a fishing pole, he would have thought of fishing today, but alas. Tsuketh does not enjoy going near towns ever unless truly necessary to his survival. And keeping alive with game hunted by his bow and fruits found off trees around the large forest was good enough for him for now. Plus, living in the forest only lets one find gold by taking it off of bandits, or finding a 'hidden' stash of one's. So money was tight and kept for future uses as at least twice a year he will get the courage and travel to the nearest town and buy anything needed for the next six months because he wouldn't come back until then even if he was on the verge of freezing to death in a cold winter. Yet he is always prepared for winter, not one has ever taken him off guard and beaten him so far. His six month visit was near, in another month or so; one always in the middle of spring, and one either at the end of summer or the beginning of fall.

A melody of happiness came playing from behind the trees, the sound of a violin playing and it's wielder walking as he played it entered the ears of many animals and humans alike. Rothardan had once again decided to take his violin and play a tune of happiness, laughter and joy. Like the last time, Rothardan did not have any musical sheets and was simply playing what he felt like in his heart... which was happiness.

Rothardan was walking along the path, with a minor skip in his step whilst he was playing his merry tune and he was quite content on doing this all day. The problem was, he didn't see the big stick which his foot was heading towards and only noticed it when he tripped up. Fortunatley, Rothardan landed on his other leg... unfortunatley his balance was shot which meant that he was now hopping on one leg with a violin in one hand, a bow in the other whilst trying to regain his balance.

...even worse was that he was heading for the lake.

It was too late. Rothardan fell in the lake with a mighty SPLOOSH sound and surfaced a few seconds later, spitting out water that he had inadvertadly let into his mouth before coughing and spluttering. He must have looked foolish, from playing the violin to falling in the lake head first.

"I'm OK..." he said to anyone who was watching him... "I was meant to do that... all part of the act."

Fortunatley Rothardan still kept his violin in his hand and bow in the other, which he placed down on the ground before joining it. He was soaking wet, so he took some leaves fromt he ground as well as dry bits of wood before taking two stones and trying to start a fire. BINGO! Sparks flew and a fire was made, warming him up a little.

"Ahhh... there's nothing like playing a violin underwater to make you shiver..." Rothardan said to no-one in paticular. It was only then that he noticed someone else, someone who was relaxing. So Rothardan smiled and nodded in his direction.

Tsuketh watched the strange man with a hand now upon his bow. He had to suppress a chuckle when this new comer had tripped and plunged head first into the lake. He had easily heard the violin the man played and his loud footsteps breaking twigs and dead leaves littering the path he took too. Thus Tsuketh knew of this man's coming for a while before he reached the waters of the lake. But instead of hiding as usual, he had stayed still upon his rock probably only because of the beautiful music that was played and was curious to the musician.

He gave his own nod back to the man and stood up. He stepped off of his rock/boulder and slung his bow and his quiver of arrows over his shoulder. Tsuketh disappeared into the wood making little sound. Being out of sight of this man that stumbled into the lake, he looked for a few dead logs and some nice sized branches. When he was finished he picked his way through the tight plethora of trees and large bushes to the side of the lake where the man was. Tsuketh popped out of the tree line with logs and branches and walked over to the man.

" 'Ello good sir. "

He placed the logs and branches he carried in his arms over to the fire and placed them on the ground near it. He soon began to build the fire until it roared giving off a great heat to warm the man to the bones. This ranger was skilled in the art of making fires, but of course he had to be. He made roughly two plus everyday of his life, he had to know what he was doing.

" Mind if I ask what you would be doing out here? Not many people visit the lake anymore. Or so I've seen "

Rothardan let the man come near him and strengthen the fire... his efforts were welcome since Rothardans teeth were chattering away due to the cold. When the fire was strengthed, Rothardan began to feel a little warmer than he was before.

" 'Ello good sir. " the man said, who was evidently a ranger due to his skills in the wild.

"Greetings stranger," Rothardan said back.

" Mind if I ask what you would be doing out here? Not many people visit the lake anymore. Or so I've seen "

"Simply enjoying the sun and playing my violin... that's all. There isn't much to do lately so I've been working on my music."

Rothardan sat down on the ground instead of kneeling on it, placing his hands above the fire and warming them up. He was begining to feel alot better thanks to this man's survival skills.

"My name is Rothardan, musical paladin. Might I ask what your name is good sir?"